1942

Key events

• Battles of El Alamein

• Operation Torch• Battle of Stalingrad• Dieppe Raid• Bataan Death

March

• Battle of Midway• Battle of

Guadalcanal• Battle of the Coral

Sea• Doolittle Raid

First Battle of El Alamein

• July 1 – July 27, 1942• British 8th army made a stand

at the railway town of El Alamein, Egypt, under command of Field Marshall Benard Montgomery.

• The Afrika Korps under command of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel needed to defeat the British at Alamein to seize the rest of Egypt.

• Tactical Stalemate; however strategic Allied victory.

Second Battle of El Alamein• October 23 – November 4, 1942• Montgomery goes on the offensive

to drive the Afrika Korps out of Egypt.

• British Commonwealth forces receive reinforcements and armor (including American Sherman Tanks).

• British Forces at approximately 200,000 strong.

• Afrika Korps roughly 100,000 strong.

• Decisive Allied Victory.• 30 000 German & Italian

casualties• 13 000 commonwealth casualties.

Operation Torch

• Began November 8th

• Combined British and American forces land in French North Africa.

• Primarily fighting against Vichy French troops.

• Three Task Forces:• Western Task Force >

Casablanca• Central Task Force > Oran• Eastern Task Force > Algiers

Battle of Stalingrad

• August 1942 – February 1943• Decisive Soviet Victory.• Major Turning point & one the

bloodiest battles of the war.• German 6th Army under

command of General Paulus completely destroyed.

• Over 1.1 million German casualties and 840 000 soviet casualties

• Germany could never fully recover after Stalingrad.

Dieppe Raid• August 19th 1942• One of the most controversial

decisions made by Allied commanders in the war.

• Predominately carried by Canadian troops from the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division, under command of British Admiral Mountbatten.

• Of the 6,000 attackers, only a little under half would make it back to England (aprox. 3.4 thousand were killed or captured.)

Bataan Death March • April 9th 1942• General King surrendered to the

Japanese in the Bataan Peninsula• Over 75 000 American and Filipino

soldiers became prisoners and had to march 65 miles to their camp with the Japanese killing anyone who collapsed or tried to escape

• Between 7000 and 10 000 soldiers died on the march.

• Even more died in the POW camp• One of the worst atrocities in

modern wartime history

Doolittle Raid• April 18th 1942• Lieutenant Colonel James H.

Doolittle planed an air raid on Japan from his carrier the Hornet.

• It was the most daring operation undertaken by the United States at that time

• 16 B-25 “Mitchell” bombers launched from the Hornet with the carrier Enterprise covering them

• Did very little damage Tokyo but caused a great amount of embarrassment for the Japanese High Command

Battle of the Coral Sea

• May 4th 1942 – May 8th 1942• Japanese planed to invade Port

Moresby in New-Guinea• Americans decoded the message

and sent 2 fleets and some Australian cruisers to confront the Imperial Navy

• Both sides suffered heavy casualties and the invasion of Port Moresby was called off

• Tactical victory for the Japanese• Later seen as a strategic victory

for the Allies

Battle of Midway• June 4th 1942 – June 7th 1942• In response to the Doolittle Raid

and the Coral Sea, the Japanese High Command send Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to draw out and destroy the US fleet at Midway

• The US under Admiral Chester A. Nimitz decoded their transmissions and set up an ambush of their own

• Was a tactical and strategic victory for the allies

• Japan lost 4 of their carriers and could never truly recover after the battle

Battle of Guadalcanal

• August 7th 1942 - February 9th 1943

• Codename Operation Watchtower

• Was the first major offensive by the Allied forces against Japan

• Had 3 major land battles, 7 naval battles, and air battles nearly everyday of the campaign.

• Indicated the end of Japanese conquest and the beginning of Allied offensives.

Quiz• 1. Which German army was surrounded and completely destroyed

during the Battle of Stalingrad? • 2. Who was in command of the Afrika Korps?• 3. Who was in command of the British forces in Egypt?• 4. Who did the allies fight against during Operation Torch?• 5. What nationality were the majority of the troops in the Dieppe raid

of?• 6. How many American and Filipino soldiers became prisoners of

war once the Bataan Peninsula was surrendered?• 7. What was the name of the aircraft carrier the B-25 “Mitchell”

bombers launched off for the Doolittle raid?• 8. What two events were seen as embarrassments to the Japanese

High Command before Midway? • 9. How many carriers did the Japanese lose at the Battle of

Midway?• 10. What was the first major offensive by the allied forces against

Japan?